The Guilty and the Innocent
by CrushedShattered
Summary: Sinead is the Vesper mole but because of her friendship with Amy she is thought to be innocent. Ian isn't but because he and his mother have both harmed Amy in the past he is accused of being the Vesper mole. The guilty Cahill is believed to be innocent, and the innocent one is accused of being guilty.
1. Chapter 1 Sinead

**Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 Clues.**

Chapter 1 Sinead

Sinead Starling knew about the kidnappings and the attack on Amy and Dan Cahill's school bus months before those things happened.

Only she didn't alert the Cahills about it.

Because doing so would be the same as committing suicide. Or even worse.

It was now the day of the bus attack.

_Act as normal as always,_ she told herself.

Using a mirror she randomly reflected the sun to create a series of flashes. She knew the Cahills wouldn't bother to try breaking it.

After a while she got into her four-wheel ATV and drove to where Amy, Dan, and the Tolliver boy were.

"The school bus is running early." She reported. "I was up on the roof and I saw it coming down the highway."

That was at least something true.

"Why were you on the roof?" The Tolliver boy asked her curiously.

"I'm refitting the furnace for zero carbon emissions, and I had to make a few chimney modifications. You guys should really let me take a crack at the monster in Grace's house. Your energy efficiency is pathetic." She replied.

She was doing that, and the energy efficiency was indeed pathetic.

Suddenly she heard the irritating sounds of the school bus as it approached the mansion.

"See you later." Amy said to Sinead as Evan escorted her to the road.

Sinead continued to pretend that she was still on furnace modification.

"I could cut your bill by two thirds."

"We're loaded, remember?" Dan retorted.

"Global warming doesn't care about what's in your bank account," She called after them. "Think it over." Not that she actually cared about global warming.

She watched as the bus lurched to a halt and the door fold open. Dan, Amy, and the Tolliver hustled in.

She checked her watch. Then took out her phone and sent a message to V-1.

_Everything is going as planned._

The attack wouldn't be extremely dangerous. But Sinead still hoped that Amy and Dan would be OK.

\

The whole attack was done now and Sinead didn't know the results yet.

She did hope that Amy was safe.

For the past two years she'd pretended to be friends with Amy Cahill because of the Vespers.

She hated Cahills, but Amy Cahill…

Their friendship had certainly been made fake by Sinead at first, but as the months passed by she'd actually begun to like Amy.

She watched the sleek black Lincoln owned by William McIntyre which was now on the circular drive. He must've heard of the bus attack, and probably the kidnappings.

Amy and Dan arrived and she watched as the three of them talked.

Then her phone rang. The call she was expecting.

She answered her phone and heard Ned's voice come from the other side.

"Sinead!" Ned's voice was urgent and frightened. "Ted and Alistair have been kidnapped!"

Sinead faked shock and surprise. "What, Ned? This is just a joke, right?"

"No, Sinead!" Ned yelled. "I'm in Tel Aviv now ―" He started to say something but suddenly stopped. Sinead knew he was having one of his headaches again.

"Just stay where you are!" She said to Ned, pretending to be worried. "I'll go and get help!" She quickly hung up the phone and rushed to the parlor.

Pounding on the door and bursting in Sinead did her best to look frantic. It was easy, made by the two years of training and practice.

"Ned just called from Tel Aviv! Ted and Alistair have been kidnapped!" Sinead herself was surprised by how convincing she sounded.

She pretended to look upset when others just stared at her. "Well, aren't you going to say something? Do you even care?"

Amy Cahill then told her about the incidents around the globe and the bus attack, all of which Sinead already knew. She made mental notes on everything that Amy told her, to report to V-1.

Then Amy and Dan thought of Nellie Gomez and then realized that their au pair had been kidnapped, too.

Sinead watched all this like someone who was watching a movie which she knew all the events that would happen in it would.

Then Sinead heard the helicopter approach. She casually checked her watch. It was exactly on time.

"To the basement!" William McIntyre ordered. "Quickly!"

Sinead followed the three Cahills as they rushed to the cellar door. Then she watched along with them as the small parachute drifted past the lead panned windows.

She followed the Cahills again as they stared at the package.

"It could be a bomb." She suggested, pretending to be nervous. She was actually really nervous, though.

After a while Dan offered to get the package.

Sinead surpressed the urge to smirk as she watched the three Cahills open the box carefully like they were really expecting a bomb.

After they had all gotten a chance to examine the phone thoroughly, Sinead produced a Swiss Army knife and offered to open the phone up. She was willing to do so, but she knew it wouldn't be of any use.

"Don't you dare." Dan interrupted her, saying that the phone was obviously for the sender to call with.

She let out a sigh of relief as Dan pressed the power switch.

Vesper One's message appeared on the screen.

"What's a Vesper?" Sinead asked, playing dumb.

She then patiently listened as McIntyre gave then a lesson on Vespers. It seemed that they knew a lot already. Carefully putting her hand in her pocket she used her Vesper phone to send a report to V-1.

After she'd finished typing the short message Amy and Dan had already decided to go.

Then McIntyre had Amy and Dan talk with some Cahills.

They finally decided that Sinead would stay in the comm. center with Ian.

Sinead smiled to herself at that. Being in the comm. center would allow her to get more information. Information the Vespers would need. And it would also be safer.

Since she was already forced into the Vespers she saw no reason why she shouldn't forget her Cahill status and go on to become a true Vesper.

Her brothers might even get better.

She wasn't worried about Ian being in the comm. center with her. It was just a minor annoyance. (Or as she'd thought so at first) He was a natural lie detector, but she was even better a liar.

\

Sinead was hugged by Amy as she watched Amy and Dan get ready to go.

"You two have to promise to be careful!" Sinead said and then handed Amy a small plastic bag, while explaining how to use the smoke bombs. The bombs were invented by her but V-1 was the one who had made her give some to Amy and Dan.

After the two had thanked her they climbed into the car and headed to the airport, encountering the Tolliver boy.

Sinead watched as the car finally disappeared out of her sight. She had the comm. center to herself for now until Ian arrived.

She hurried upstairs; she had a lot to do.

\

Sinead had just received the picture of the hostages when Ian arrived.

Quickly saving the picture into her own flash drive she then pressed the button on one of the control panels to open the gate to allow Ian to come in.

She opened the door at the same time when Ian was about to press the door ball.

"Good…" Ian began, and then checked his watch. "Evening."

Sinead greeted him and led him into the mansion, showing him his room.

Ian seemed tired and worried, and Sinead left him alone to unpack.

After an hour Ian came to the comm. center. Sinead showed him everything new and at the same time carefully studied him. She needed to know everything about Ian if she were to be able to prevent him from knowing things he shouldn't know. Ian was definitely harder to fool than Amy or McIntyre.

His gaze was just as sharp and concentrated as ever.

But Sinead knew that with the Vespers' assistance and tactful planning Ian would be finished off eventually.


	2. Chapter 2 Ian

**A\N: The 2nd chapter is up… It's in Ian's POV. More than half of the chapters will be in Sinead's POV. Some of them will be in other characters' POV.**

**Please R & R!**

Chapter 2 Ian

Ian Kabra seldom went to the Attleboro comm. center. He wouldn't have gone then if Natalie hadn't been kidnapped.

Amy and Daniel Cahill's cat certainly didn't know a thing about how to greet a guest properly.

The Mau decided to attack him just after Sinead had finished showing him around the comm. center.

Ian was walking around the mansion (he had to admit it was impressively large) when he suddenly heard the piercing sound of a cat's war cry and then felt a stab of pain on his cheek.

Then he watched angrily as Saladin pranced quickly down the hallway.

Rushing quickly back to his room he grabbed a mirror to check on the damage done to his face. He could've dealt with the cat then and there but it didn't seem good for his reputation in the mansion if he seriously injured the most prized and treasured pet of the Madrigals' leader's family.

\

Ian was just starting to work in the comm. center when a call came from Amy and Dan from one of the computers.

He clicked on the ACCEPT CALL button and Daniel Cahill appeared on the screen.

Dan Cahill seemed genuinely surprised. "Hey, Ian, isn't it, like, two in the morning back there?"

"It's called jet lag." Ian informed Dan. "I'm still on London time. I don't suppose you savages have any tea in this mausoleum."

He'd checked the kitchen before and he hadn't found any tea, but maybe Americans had now learned how important tea was and kept it in a special place. Though he doubted that.

"There's diet Snapple in the fridge."

Ian shuddered as he imagined what a drink called 'diet Snapple' would taste like. "I thought not."

A picture of the Cahill hostages had cooled down completely on the printer near Ian. He removed the picture from it and grimaced. "Poor Natalie. She won't like that jumpsuit."

Amy appeared on the screen behind Dan's shoulder. Ian tapped his foot on the ground uneasily.

"Thanks for getting here so fast." She said, and then seemed to notice the angry scratch on Ian's face. "Hey, what happened to your face?"

Ian wondered if Amy was really that stupid.

Dan Cahill had at least a bit more common sense.

"Have you been messing with Saladin?" He asked Ian, as if Ian would really "mess" with an uncivilized cat.

"No, Saladin has been 'messing' with me." Ian shot back. He wondered why he was calling the cat by its name but the circumstances now made it best for him to show it some respect.

"He isn't big on Lucians." Dan told him. "Animals are really good judges of character."

Ian was sure that he had a better "character" than the cat.

"Spare me." Ian glowered at him. "Any word on what your 'task' is going to be?" It was better to know something.

Dan shook his head impatiently. "I hate this waiting. Why can't Vesper One just come out and tell us?"

Ian was amazed by the American boy's ignorance and stupidity, it seemed so obvious to him. But after all, Dan was a Madrigal, not a Lucian.

"He's keeping you off balance." Ian explained. "It's sound strategy. Everything he's done so far shows a mastery of tactical art."

Ian was indeed impressed by Vesper One's skill.

He then saw Dan regard him with suspicion. Ian pretended not to notice his searching and doubting gaze.

He was trying to be helpful, but maybe he'd said a bit too much.

\

Ian turned off the TV after he'd watched the CNN report for two times.

It was amazing how Amy had managed to do it.

After they'd finished congratulating Amy their conversation was interrupted.

It turned out that Amy's boyfriend was snooping around the mansion. Ian was surprised when he got to know that Amy had a boyfriend just then.

"What should I tell the cops?" Sinead asked.

"Shoot to kill?" Ian suggested.

"That's not funny." Amy sighed wearily. "Convince them to let him go. I'll call him later and clear the air."

"I'll go do it." Ian murmured to Mr. McIntyre while Sinead and Amy were talking.

Mr. McIntyre nodded.

Ian did want to see what kind of boy Amy like

\

Ian had to admit that he was greatly disappointed by Amy's choice.  
The boy was typically American and was not a bit close to Ian's definition of good-looking. Smart, maybe, but certainly not bright.

When he approached the police he tried not to look too smug when he saw Evan Tolliver's surprised and puzzled face.

\

Ian had never thought he'd end up as an official photographer someday. But now he was.

"Take it from all angles." Amy instructed him. "We want to give Tobin a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view."

"Check." Ian said as he finished taking the last photo. "What if he's not interested?"

"He'll be interested. The Janus file says he's gaga over Egyptian art."

Ian decided not to mention that a Cahill file was never completely true.

"Thanks, Ian. We'll be in touch." Amy said to him after she received the photographs, and then she broke the connection.

Ian stared dumbly at the phone for a few seconds before realizing it.

The last time Amy had thanked him directly was more than two years ago.

\

Ian had to admit that the comm. center was much livelier after Amy's boyfriend, Evan Tolliver had entered.

It was somewhat annoying for Ian to have the over-enthusiastic-about-electronics boyfriend of Amy in the comm. center with him for a long time almost everyday now.

Amy was clearly unhappy and possibly even angry about his decision. But Evan's knowledge would be useful.

He wanted all this Vesper craziness to end quickly, but somehow he knew that wouldn't happen.


	3. Chapter 3 Sinead

**A\N: The 3rd chapter… The next one will be a little more interesting. Thanks for the reviews! :) **

Chapter 3 Sinead

Sinead was relieved when Amy managed to steal the 'Medusa' from the art museum.

Getting V-1 angry was not good, even if the reason of his anger had nothing to do with her.

\

The shooting was something Sinead hadn't really expected. Of course V-1 had informed her about it minutes before it would happen but she still felt a sense of unease as she watched the video.

The Vespers could kill so easily. A skilled and well-practiced finger pressing the trigger, and the target was almost certainly dead.

She didn't think that Amy had given V-1 a fake on purpose, then Amy would've told her about it. But what if Amy already knew?

She hadn't gotten to talk privately with Amy much since the Vespers had taken full action. What if―

Then she'd be killed, also her brothers.

There was that nauseating feeling of panic, and Sinead tried to calm herself down.

Amy didn't know, she couldn't have known.

Sinead didn't care where the real 'Medusa' was, but she knew Amy and Dan had to find it.

\

Sinead had never expected a well-trained Lucian to be incapable of standing the slight pain of disinfectant applied on a cat scratch.

"Ow!"

"Hold still." She ordered. "And don't be such a baby. Cat scratches are prone to infection, you know."

"And that's _my _fault?" Ian snapped. "Why don't you lock that animal in the cellar? Or better still, send it to a violin string factory! _Ow_! What _is _this stuff ―acid?"

"My own concoction," She replied with faked cheeriness.

Dan called, and Sinead showed him the label.

It had been put there on purpose by V-1. They'd instructed Sinead on what to say.

It was easy to convince them that even Vespers made mistakes. But that wasn't true. A Vesper would never make a mistake.

After some conversation Sinead casually asked Dan about what he, Jonah, and Hamilton were doing. That was another thing the Vespers required of Sinead: to send a full report on major Cahill actions to them at least every three days.

"Jonah's with the mayor of Florence, getting the key to the city. Hamilton's helping Amy. I'm―" Dan's voice suddenly faltered. "I'm just picking up a few things we need."

Sinead guessed that Dan was up to something, and she suspected that she knew what it was.

\

Sinead watched the red dot on her Vesper tracker which showed the exact location of where the tracking device which was in Amy Cahill's Vesper phone was. Many Vespers were watching it now, maybe even V-1.

She zoomed in and saw the dot go impossibly high, then down at an equally impossible speed.

The boat.

The Vesper phone there was still functioning perfectly, but Sinead didn't know if the Cahills there were, too.

\

Sinead was relived when Amy told her that every one in the boat crash conducted by Dan was fine. The bad news was that they'd lost their Vesper phone's charger.

"I hope you can find one, Sinead." Amy said to her over the phone. "Or find some things to make one."

"I'll try my best." Sinead promised her.

Of course she had a charger, but she couldn't just hand it over to them.

That was the irritating thing about problems like this: She would have to consult V-1.

Vesper One's answer to her question was simple, and quite disturbing:

_Pretend to trying to invent the charger. And expect Amy's dear boyfriend to enter the comm. center. Almost everything is ready. Send I. Kabra to buy anything you can think of at Attleboro Circuits. Today._

Sinead frowned slightly as she read the message on her Vesper phone. The first sentence was something she'd expected, but why would the Tolliver boy get permission to enter the comm. center? Sinead knew well that Amy would never let her boyfriend get tangled into the Cahill business.

She shook her head slightly to clear her mind and focused on the message.

_Almost everything is ready._

The Vespers planned everything out perfectly.

After she wrote down a list of the equipment she would need in her "attempt" to fix up a charger, she found Ian and told him where to go and what to do.

She saw the look of incredulity and distain on his face as she said all this to him, and then she asked McIntyre to drive Ian to Attleboro Circuit.

She watched as McIntyre's Lincoln drove down the highway, wondering what Ian would encounter at Attleboro Circuit.

\

The Tolliver boy did indeed enter the comm. center with permission. It had seemed that Ian was the one who'd found him and invited him here, but Sinead knew it just couldn't be a coincidence.

Vesper One had planned this, months, even years, ago.

It did seem to be a logical solution: The Tolliver boy had some correct knowledge, but it was of no use.

She sent a quick message to V-1.

_E. Tolliver has arrived. Was invited by I. Kabra. E. T. knows DeOssie electronics._

A minute later the reply came.

_Let E. Tolliver stay. Has future use._

Sinead scoffed inwardly. She knew that. V-1 would only get another person into the comm. center if he wanted Sinead to have a bigger chance of failing. But she knew that wouldn't happen. Or so she hoped.

The Tolliver boy was for some special and important use, only she didn't know what that was.

When she'd gone back to the comm. center after putting her Vesper phone away the Tolliver boy had already been briefed about the Cahills.

Amy, as Sinead had predicted, was not a bit happy about her boyfriend being in the comm. center.

There were only a few good things about that.

The main thing she was glad about was that this had caused a little more unfriendliness between Amy and Ian.

She needed Amy to trust her completely now, not Ian.


	4. Chapter 4 Sinead

**A\N: Enjoy! :) **

Chapter 4 Sinead

A plan had been pieced together by Amy. Sinead knew such a plan would be made long before.

Jonah and Hamilton would return to the United States to join Sinead and Ian. Together they would go on a nighttime expedition to check out the DeOssie family.

Sinead knew that they'd find nothing useful there except for the Vesper phone chargers. V-1 had set everything up there. All Sinead had to do was to act out her role and get them out of the explosion safely.

She knew the purpose of the explosion: V-1 didn't really want to harm or kill them. It was just a scheme to have the Cahills trust Sinead more for saving their lives. But she had to say it was quite risky.

This was certainly not the only reason. Sinead knew that V-1 liked to accomplish two or more major things in one act. There were a few minor achievements the trip to the DeOssie factory would make, like getting the Vesper phone chargers to the Cahills, which V-1 saw as a minor annoyance. But she knew the Vespers had something else big planned.

\

Sinead drove the SUV through the narrow winding roads, it was indeed a navigator's nightmare, but the Vespers had made her practice before.

After a while they saw the DeOssie factory and Sinead parked the car.

The three Cahills all had their doubts about the building.

The Tolliver boy also had his questions. "A place like that should never be completely deserted. They'd have security."  
That was what a regular factory should be like, but V-1 had cleared everyone out.

They broke in easily, and Sinead started the search.

She poked half-heartedly through some of the cubicle drawers. Pictures of a worker's family were in one of the drawers. Another drawer contained a month's worth of bus tickets and some filled notebooks. She thought about how the worker would feel when he or she knew that everything in the factory had been burned to ashes in the fire caused by the explosion overnight. After all, V-1 didn't care about such personal belongings.

The three boys were still searching around. As the Vesper had expected, they hadn't found the chargers yet.

"Freeze!" Evan exclaimed suddenly over the phones. "One of you― Hamilton, I think― take a step back! There ―in the bin on the middle shelf."

All three pairs of eyes in the office turned to Hamilton. He moved his cell phone closer to provide a better view. "This one?"

"Jackpot! Sinead― go and have a look. I think it's the missing charger we've been working on."

Sinead hadn't really been working on the charger with Evan. She just made attempts at it and then did something wrong "accidentally" every time before the charger could be finished. She had to admit that the Tolliver was smart for someone who was not an Ekat.

Sinead walked quickly to Hamilton's side. She knew the chargers were there all along. "Great, I'll grab a bunch so we've got some spares."

They searched the other areas in hope of finding the hostages. Sinead went to one of the smaller areas and sent a message to V-1.

_Chargers found. Prepare for explosion in 10 min. _

V-1 didn't reply, but Sinead knew that he'd received it.

She walked back to the main office room, where the other three had already to returned to.

"At least we got the charges." Sinead said. "We can send a couple to Amy and Dan in the morning. Let's get back to the car." In her mind she was calculating and estimating the time. She really hoped that one of them would touch something in the office so it would seem that the explosion had been triggered.

For some reason Hamilton decided to raid the snack dispenser, and Sinead let out a sigh of relief.

She reached into her pocket and sent another to V-1 confirming that she was ready.

She could almost picture him pressing the button.

Just as Hamilton was getting the snacks an enormous explosion rocked the building on its foundation.

"Hit the deck!" Sinead shouted. The practices were over, now it was the real thing for her. And she had only one chance. If she did something wrong the explosion would be fatal to all four of them.

The office caught fire at the planned moment.

She heard Ian yell about the door and she followed him, knowing it would be safe for the next few seconds.

They were running towards the door, and then Sinead felt as if everything had turned into a blur. The chargers blocking the exit, the sound of all the explosions, and the roar of the fire blazing out of control were all coming at her too quickly.

But she still remembered the plan.

"The factory!" She yelled, leading the three boys from the burning office to the manufacturing plant. She remembered the route clearly, and braced herself for the next explosion.

More explosions followed, but Sinead's mind was completely cleared of panic now.

She was still scared, but much less than the others.

She counted the explosions, and at the sound of the fifth one she ran for a large forklift parked nearby.

Legs pumping she then jumped behind the wheel just as a heavy piece of metal shelving hit the floor right where she's been standing a second before. Sinead winced; she didn't know that would happen.

She turned the key and the motor roared to life.

Calling for the others to get in she started driving, picking up speed, rolling through the inferno.

"Are you crazy?" Ian yelled. "There's no way out!"

Maybe she was crazy.

"We can't stay here!" Sinead hunched over the controls, conducting by sheer memory. Her mind was almost completely blank.

_Turn right, straight, curve… _

At last she saw her destination― the metal overhead door of the factory's loading bay.

"You're losing it!" Jonah rasped. "We're not going to get through that!"

Sinead gripped the controls hard. They had to.

She was going by the forklift's top speed, and it would be hard to stop quickly. What if the timing wasn't right? What if…?

But she was already here, and she might as well try to survive.

"Hang on!" She ordered, trying her best to be heard over all the other noises.

The door was coming closer and closer…

It seemed as if it would never be blasted open, but Sinead kept on driving.

An instant before impact a final explosion blew the heavy gate clean off. It toppled outward, forming a ramp from the loading bay down to the driveway.

Just as Vesper One had planned.

Sinead leaned forward even more and drove the forklift down the broken door to ground level.

\

When they reached the parking lot Sinead watched along with the others as the DeOssie factory burned to the ground.

"That was some hard-core James Bond back there." Jonah praised her. "How did you know the door was going to blow?"

Sinead looked at him, unable to hide the shame displayed on her face. "I didn't. I just figured it was better than burning." That sounded so much like a lie, and she hoped that they took her shame for almost killing them by choosing to escape by using the forklift.

Hamilton opened the snack bag that was still in his hand. (Sinead was amazed that he'd been able to hold onto the bag) He popped a Cheez Doodle into his mouth. "Hey, are these barbecue flavor?"

"They are now." Ian told him.

"We would all be, if not for Sinead." Jonah pointed out. "This is the last time I underestimate Vesper One. When homey sets a trap, he's not playing."  
Sinead had to agree with Jonah on that.

There was suddenly a loud bang, and a window blew, glass spraying uncomfortably close. Sinead, Hamilton and Jonah hurried towards the gate and their SUV.

Sinead kept an eye on Ian who seemed to lag behind because of a limp. She watched as he picked a small scrap of charred paper from the ground which had which had been blown from the wreckage.

The look on Ian's face was strange, and Sinead somehow knew that the paper meant something to him.

Ian jammed the scrap into his pocket.

It had to mean something to him.

Everything important or needed had been taken out if the factory and the Vespers never left anything out.

With a slight chill and a rush of conflicting emotions Sinead realized that the Vespers were starting the finish-Ian-Kabra-off plan.

That was their other achievement of this midnight tour.


	5. Chapter 5 Ian

**A\N: Happy New Year! :) **

**I'm not trying to intentionally insult SpongeBob in this chapter. You'll know what I mean. XD**

Chapter 5 Ian

The messages and comments were appearing rapidly on the Madrigal Cahill message board. Almost all the Cahills were trying to help. And Ian wondered why.

There were only seven known Cahills that the Vespers had kidnapped, and so many Cahills were worrying about it. Ian thought he recognized this strategy of holding a close relative of the leader of a group as hostage to make a whole group of people do some usually not-so-pleasant task.

He scanned through the messages, making an occasional note or replying to an interesting or possibly useful message. The most interesting thing he'd found in an hour was an analysis of the second picture of the hostages sent to them by the Vespers. The brilliant Ekat had suggested that the positions the hostages were in could be some kind of code or message. Only he hadn't figured out what it was yet.

Because of that message Ian had stared at the photo for ten minutes already. All the time he did his best to concentrate on the positions and formations rather than the faces. He didn't want to see Natalie's expression in particular. He could've…

_It. Was. Not. His. Fault._

The Vesper would've kidnapped her anyways, but Ian didn't want to believe something that he couldn't form into words.

\

The computer screen flashed, or to be precise, the Cahill crest on the computer screen flashed. Ian was so tired that he couldn't tell the difference.

Sinead looked up from her computer. "It's from Amy and Dan." She told Ian.

Ian clicked on the ACCEPTT CALL button and let Sinead start.

Sinead stood before the screen and Amy's face appeared. Dan was next to her and behind them was a background of pine trees.

"Ames! I'm so glad you called. We weren't sure what happened to you."

Ian felt the same way.

"Sorry. We fell asleep on the train. Then we ran into a little trouble."

Ian could guess what she meant by "a little trouble".

"Where are you now? Are you alright?" Sinead asked.

"We're fine. " Amy told her. "Some ski town close to Lucerne. We're catching the next train."

Ian sighed as he nudged Sinead for her to step away from the screen. Why couldn't they talk about something _important?_ Of course he cared about Amy, but there were things of more importance to talk about now.

"That's enough chit chat. Listen, we have news. We've got a Vesper ID for you from Cahills in the field. Erasmus did a cross-check and confirmed it. Vesper Six is Cheyenne Wyoming."

He remembered the feeling of excitement when they'd discovered this. One Vesper with a number had been confirmed. They were finally making real progress.

"Cheyenne?" Amy asked, and Ian sensed nervousness in her voice. "Any relation to Casper?"

Ian immediately thought of that time, when Casper Wyoming had decided to do some rather unpleasant things. He also remembered what had also happened around the time of that event, and had to suppress the urge to wince.

"Cheyenne is his twin sister." He confirmed. "But I have worse news. Casper is definitely alive."  
Both Amy and Dan turned pale at that, and Dan muttered something that sounded like a curse.

Ian turned to one of the computers and sent a photo of V-6 to Dan's phone while Sinead talked with Amy.

At that moment Evan came into the comm. center after getting a snack and feeding Saladin.

When he noticed that they were talking to Amy he walked over to Sinead and muttered something to her. Ian didn't need to listen to know that he was requesting to talk to Amy. Privately.

Sinead nodded and told Amy. Evan walked over and used one of the microphone speakers to talk to her.

Ian did his best to not eavesdrop on their conversation, but he did feel extremely curious and couldn't help but listen.

He heard half of the talk between the couple clearly. After all, he'd been trained as a Lucian and eavesdropping to acquire information was one of the things he was trained in.

It was strange that so much love talk could be about a cat.

Ian shifted his position slightly as he watched the face of his watch show the time passing by. Not that he didn't like the two of them talking in such a way, it was just that they needed to move on to some more impending and important matters.

He moved closer to Evan and the computer. "All right, lovebirds, let's move on." He said quickly. "No offense, but I believe Amy and Dan might need a short course in style and class."

This was obviously more useful than what Amy and Evan were talking about, but both of them seemed annoyed and disappointed for some reason.

Now Dan was also not happy with him. "Is this the nonoffensive part?" He asked Ian. "I can't wait until you really insult us."

Such irony. Couldn't the American git be a bit more grateful?

"Let's deal with the reality, shall we?" Ian said to him, wondering if Dan knew how this would help them. "You don't just walk into an auction house in your jeans and backpacks. You have to blend in. And that's going to be hard. Considering you're Americans."

Dan was clearly getting more and more offended.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded. "This is my best SpongeBob T-shirt."

"Exactly my point," Ian said, imagining what the guards at the auction house would do if Dan appeared in a shirt with a picture of a cleaning tool of kitchen utensils printed on it. "An auction house is a place of taste and refinement. If you barge in looking like…well, you…"

"I get your drift, Ian." Amy interrupted. "Do you know the most exclusive store in Lucerne?"

Ian felt suddenly sour and resentful, but succeeded on hiding it perfectly.

"Of course. Here's an idea." He couldn't help but put something intentionally insulting into what he was about to say next. "Video your trip to the store, and I can advise you. Or else you'll emerge looking like a mushroom and Dan like he just rolled out of bed."

Amy gave a sigh and then the topic was somehow immediately changed back to Cheyenne Wyoming.

"Remember, it's in his best interest to keep you two out of jail." Evan Tolliver pointed out. "Maybe he sent her to make sure you two got over the border."

Ian had figured out that too, of course.

Then Amy's boyfriend stared to tell them about the GPS set into the Vesper phone, something Ian had to give Evan credit for. For some reason he hadn't thought of that possibility.

\

Ian pressed a button on his phone to send the message to Amy telling her what to never do in a fashion shop.

"Any progress yet?" Sinead asked from behind him, while leaning forward to glance at his phone.

"Not yet." Ian muttered as he put his phone away. "I was just sending Amy and Dan instructions on how to shop."

"…Oh," Sinead said softly as she went back to her computer. "I…" She shrugged. "I just hope we'll find more useful information soon."

She looked at Ian for a moment and turned away.

Ian thought that he'd imagined it, and he hoped he had. But just as Sinead turned away from him to keep on working on whatever was on her computer, Ian felt a strange tingle run down his spine.


	6. Chapter 6 Sinead

**A\N: Thanks for the reviews! :) **

**In this chapter Sinead might seem a bit, ah, emotional. And by the way, I finally got to start on Shatterproof (It took me more than 2 months to get that book), I found that V-3 POV. I was sort of shocked that Sinead… XD**

Chapter 6 Sinead

Sinead just loved reporting to Amy about how a factory exploded.

Everything had gone as planned there, but the Vespers hadn't told her about what would happen to Ian.

Now Sinead watched as Ian started the talk with Amy and Dan. She didn't know why Ian thought it fit to chat about unimportant details about the midnight tour right now.

She quickly interrupted Ian. She didn't know why, but she felt that she needed to tell the story. Vesper One almost never gave her details on the small things which happened here. Most of the small matters were left to Sinead to deal with as she saw fit.

She quickly told them about everything that had happened a few hours ago. She told the story in a serious way, and made it seem as if she'd taken a great risk while saving them all, which was true, in a way. For some reason she didn't want Ian, or Jonah, or Evan to tell Amy about it. Also, she had to prove herself of being someone in charge, in a way.

\

Sinead allowed herself to smirk as she saw the red dot go quickly away from the yellow one.

The yellow dot was V-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Vesper One wouldn't be happy.

She glanced at Ian, who was working in front of a computer across from her. She predicted that the call from Amy would come soon.

After a few minutes Amy called, and Ian let Sinead talk.

Sinead glanced at her reflection on the screen of one of the computers on dormant mode to check her facial expression. She knew it would be convincing enough, but checking to make sure made her feel better, and more…confident.

She went along with the conversation, and wasn't surprised when Ian brought up the V-6 thing. She and Ian had been working on that for the past few days. The "Cahills in the field" that Ian had mentioned were actually Cahills who had been recruited by the Vespers. They followed Vesper One's every order.

Sinead didn't know why Vesper One had decided to let that piece of information leak out. Sometimes the leader of the Vespers didn't even share his plans with the Council of Six.

And it hadn't really surprised her when Dan figured out that V-6 had helped him and Amy get over the border.

Then a sudden feeling of unease came to her: if V-1 was willing to reveal the identity of a member of the Council of Six, he might also…

She realized that she had been worrying about this a lot lately.

Evan suddenly appeared, and asked Sinead if he could have a talk privately with Amy.

Sinead nodded, and wondered again about why V-1 wanted to have non-Cahill with a remarkable skill with computers and in predicting and analyzing in the comm. center. And then she remembered that Evan suspected that there was a GPS embedded in Amy and Dan's Vesper phone, which was true. She'd already reported this to Vesper One.

Either Vesper One was planning on how to do Evan off, or he simply didn't care.

\

Evan was sitting in front of a computer in the comm. center. Saladin was asleep on a stack of papers close to him, and of course, Ian was in his room.

Sinead watched Evan for a moment, and then she slipped through the doorway into the room. After hesitating slightly, she sat in the chair next to him. She wanted to copy some newly arrived Cahill files from a computer onto one of her Vesper flash drives. And that meant getting Evan out so she could do it.

"You should get some sleep." She told him, and estimated how much she'd have to say to convince him.

"I want to be here when she wakes up." Evan said as he glanced at the computer. Sinead suddenly envied Amy for a moment, not because of what had happened during the Clue hunt or anything, but simply because Amy had so many people who cared for her. Including a boyfriend…

She then remembered that now was the time to convince Evan to leave the comm. center for a while. And now she could get to know some things about him, and the information might explain why Vesper One had decided to get Evan into the comm. center.

"Don't your parents wonder where you are?" She asked.

"They think I'm in a sleepover study group." Evan explained. "As long as I say the words_ Harvard _and _extracurricular_, they're on board."

Sinead silently filed that bit of information away inside her head. And then went back to convincing Evan.

"Look, they didn't get to Basel until midnight." She said, deciding to use the plain-facts strategy. "When she contracts us, I'll wake you up. There's a six-hour difference― it's only six A.M. there."

Evan shook his head and still insisted on staying up to provide his girlfriend with information. Sinead realized that this would take some real effort.

"There's always stuff we can do." She said. "But if we work ourselves to exhaustion, we can make mistakes. And that doesn't help anyone."

And it wouldn't help the Vespers if they made mistakes while doing research on the items, but when they made an error while doing Vesper-related investigations it really saved Sinead from doing extra work.

She could tell from Evan's expression that he understood, but he wasn't going to rest yet.

Evan looked around the comm. center and Sinead followed his gaze. Computers were everywhere and the walls were covered in printouts, making the walls look like the kind of roof with tiles. Evan's creative idea with the wire had given the room an even stranger look. _How untidy and unorganized the Cahills were, _she mused. _But, yes, Evan wasn't a Cahill. _

Evan rubbed his forehead. "That note that Amy and Dan found from their grandmother. _VSP79―Pliny described first test. _How could all this circle back to some volcanic eruption back in Italy in A.D. 79?"

Sinead knew. And she knew so much.

"We don't know." She told him, and forced a good amount of confidence into her next words. "But we'll find out."

That was true, they would find out when V-1 saw fit.

Evan was silent for a long moment, and Sinead decided to do some more persuading. Then it was as if how she would do it had come to her instantly. And she acted on that instinct.

She walked closer to him and put her hands on his arms. Even though she knew they were "just friends", or so as Evan saw it, Sinead still felt a tingling sensation when her hands touched his sleeves. She pushed him gently encouragingly.

"C'mon, go sack out." She said reassuringly. "I'm going to run a few programs. I promise to get you if Amy checks in."

She knew it had worked when Evan got out of his chair and stumbled to his feet. He was obviously tired out, and Sinead understood why he was doing so much for his girlfriend.

"Okay. I'll catch a few hours." Evan murmured.

Their eyes met, and Sinead steadied her gaze, showing none of the rush emotions she was actually felling now.

"I never knew how much you cared about her until now." She stated.

He nodded. "Me, neither. I'll do anything for her."

Sinead knew he meant it.

She nodded. "Me, too." She said softly, and wondered whether she was really lying or not.


End file.
